Italy-Ukraine 2-1: Frattesi brace, Spalletti first victory

First victory for Luciano Spalletti as Italy coach. The Azzurri beat Ukraine at San Siro and (with one game less played) reach the yellow-blues and Macedonia in second place in the group. Qualification for Euro 2024 is still to be achieved, but after the draw in Skopje the night at the Meazza gives Donnarumma and his teammates a little more peace of mind in view of the future. The credit goes above all to Davide Frattesi, author of the brace which in the first half, in 17 minutes, put the national team up 2-0. A goal “given” to Yarmolenko forces us to suffer until the end, but the success is deserved for the offensive production and the expressed play. However, the feeling remains of having created a lot and collected too little. An aspect to work on in view of October, when we go to play at home to league leaders England.

SUPER FRATTESI

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Spalletti changes five compared to the lineup held at 1-1 by Macedonia: the biggest change is in attack, where center forward Raspadori sends Immobile, captain in Skopje, to the bench, but Scalvini, Locatelli, Frattesi and Zaniolo are also new (they take the place of Mancini, Cristante, Tonali and Politano). Ukraine, fresh from a draw against England, makes three changes and the loudest one is linked to Mudryk, the Chelsea star who ends up out to make room for Yarmolenko. The Azzurri approach the match well and become dangerous with two high shots from Di Lorenzo and Raspadori: you can see that Italy has a crazy desire and knows what to do, so the Ukrainians try to contain. They succeed until 12′ when, in a harmless move behind the ball, Sudakov slips and gives the ball to Zaccagni, an assist for Frattesi and the goal to make it 1-0. The national team takes a lot of weight off its shoulders and Spalletti applauds on the bench. With Locatelli in front of the defense, the circulation of the ball is discreet, but above all the midfielders Barella and Frattesi insert themselves continuously thanks to the changes of play that make the opponents skid. Raspadori misses the target for the second time in the 25th minute and Meazza despairs at the wasted 2-0, but a handful of seconds later they double the lead: on a shot from Zaniolo, the ball lands at the feet of the usual Frattesi and the Inter midfielder scores the brace, validated after the VAR check. The double advantage makes Italy relax a little too much and they stop looking for a high recovery, breathing instead of quickly running backwards when not in possession (especially Zaniolo) and concedes meters to Ukraine, dangerous with Dovbyk thanks to a ball lost by Locatelli. Donnarumma rejects and, after a few whistles upon entering the pitch and reading the line-ups, there is applause for the goalkeeper. Raspadori tries again and this time hits Bushchan’s gloves: it seems like a monologue and instead, following a collective inattention from our rearguard (slobs from Scalvini and Di Lorenzo, gross mistake from Dimarco), Yarmolenko scores the 2-1 thanks to the assist involuntary by the Inter winger. Donnarumma’s miracle on Dovbyk’s previous close shot turns out to be useless. At half-time the Azzurri are ahead 2-1, but having only a one-goal margin after dominating (67% possession, 11-5 shots) doesn’t make Spalletti feel comfortable.

RECOVERY

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The second half begins without substitutions and with Italy being scolded in the locker room for the distractions they had from the 30th minute onwards. The deep attack of the lone striker Dovbyk again creates difficulties and Locatelli has to block a dangerous shot from Zinchenko. Then Dovbyk shoots wide from an inviting position. The enthusiasm at San Siro wanes and the Ukrainian supporters make themselves heard. The Azzurri missed another sensational goal: this time it was Zaccagni who failed to find the target after a cross from Dimarco and a nice assist from Zaniolo. It’s just a flash because the team is more stretched out and is unable to regroup when the opponents have the ball. So Lucio brings in Gnonto and Biraghi for Zaccagni and Dimarco before the hour mark: tactically nothing changes, but the objective is to give fresh forces to the group, attack with more conviction on the outside. On a psychological level the move pays off and as soon as the game resumes, on an illuminating backheel from Zaniolo, Raspadori calls for a great save from Bushchan. The Napoli striker moves well, but is not very concrete in front of goal. However, Italy is back in control and tries repeatedly with Scalvini (high header), Zaniolo (save) and Locatelli (crossbar). Spalletti throws Orsolini and Retegui into the fray for Zaniolo and Raspadori; Rebrov, who has already inserted Mudryk, responds with Buyalskyi and Vanat to give more weight to the attack. Cristante replaces the exhausted Barella and Meazza holds its breath on Konoplia’s header to the side, triggered by Mudryk. The Azzurri finished with a bit of trouble because Gnonto didn’t hurt and a shot from Vanat went just wide, but at the final whistle Meazza celebrated. The European Championship is a little closer now.